Most wines evoke the taste sensations of sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Kalin Cellars
wines are among the VERY, VERY few wines presently available that evoke the FIFTH Taste of
Umami. Umami is a newly discovered basic taste that is fundamentally different from the
other four. It is variously described as delicious, savory or meaty. It is associated with
the taste of perfection - a wine, fruit, cheese, mushroom or ham that is at its peak of
flavor maturity and quality. Most wines are either not capable of attaining Umami or are
offered for sale long before the fifth flavor of perfection is achieved. Kalin Cellars
wines are aged in temperature and humidity controlled underground cellars until they
achieve the perfection of Umami. Only after three to ten years of bottle age are these
wines released for sale. To learn more about Wine With The Fifth Taste
please visit the Umami Wine Page.

The Kalin Credo

"Produce No Wine With Less Character than Yourself"

Kalin Overview

Kalin Cellars is a small winery located in Marin County, California
which produces 7,000 cases per year of wine made by completely traditional European
methods. These time and labor intensive procedures severely limit the quantity - but not
the quality - of wine that we are able to produce.

Red wines are fermented for several weeks in wooden "cuves"
and aged in new French oak barrels. These wines are neither fined nor filtered - they are
naturally clarified and stabilized by settling and aging in small cooperage.

White wines are fermented and aged in new French oak barrels. These
wines receive the minimum of fining to achieve brilliance and stability, and are bottled
without filtration.

Vineyard sources are selected based on the superiority of the soil type
and their being situated in the coolest possible microclimate suitable for the variety
being grown. Due to the high natural acids present in cool climate fruit, all red and
white wines are able to undergo complete malolactic fermentation. We produce exclusively
100% single vineyard wines.

These optimal vineyard and winemaking elements combine to produce wines
of exceptional complexity and balance - classic New World wines evolved from centuries of
European artisanal tradition and experience.